In the United States we spend more per capita on health care than any other country in the world. We spent $7,421 per capita as compared to about $3,500 countries with universal
national health care systems such as France and Germany. In fact, according to the latest data, we spent $2.2 trillion in 2007 on
health care, or 16.2% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Even more worrisome is that expenditures continue to rise at an alarming rate of 6% annually.
There is however, another side of the American health care story, one that is rarely discussed but one that has added dramatically to health care costs. In the past 25 years we have turned deadly diseases such as AIDS and many cancers into chronic illnesses. Death is cheap…
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The U.S. must join the rest of the Western world and ensure that every American has access to modern healthcare. We will however accomplish nothing worthwhile if we provide universal healthcare insurance and don't have a real plan to deliver healthcare to the 46 million Americans who are now uninsured. Liberals, conservatives and moderates in Congress have developed innumerable insurance schemes, electronic medical record systems, a cliché or two about living healthy lives, tax mechanisms to pay the bill but have no plan to actually deliver healthcare the day after they congratulate themselves on reforming the "healthcare system". Maybe they can borrow George Bush's "Mission Accomplished" sign.
Those of us who have worked with dozens of differing universal healthcare systems throughout the world come to the problem with a very different…
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In a recent
New York Times Op-Ed piece advocating specialized health courts, author Philip K. Howard asserted, "Waste in the health care system costs America upwards of $1 trillion per year. Much of this waste is generated or justified by the fear of legal consequences that infects almost every health care encounter..... The legal system terrorizes doctors. Fear of possible claims leads medical professionals to squander billions in unnecessary tests and procedures. "Defensive medicine" is so prevalent that it has become part of standard protocol."
In the United States we spend more per capita on health care than any other country in the world. We spent $7,421 per capita as compared to about $3,500 countries with universal
national health care systems such as France and Germany. We don't receive…
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In an act of arrogant indifference to the well-being of women, the Pope stated on a recent trip to Africa that in his opinion condoms do not contribute to solving the AIDS problem but only make it worse. Promiscuity, shouted the old misogynists of Roman Curia! Eve be dammed for her beguiling intrigues, condoms will only make her more wicked… Let her be punished for her sins!
Reality rarely permeates the walls of the Vatican. Specifically, the United Nations estimates that 22 million Africans are infected with the HIV virus. Three-quarters of the world's AIDS deaths in 2007 were in sub-Saharan Africa where most health officials recommend condoms as a way to prevent its spread.
At the end of 2007 it was estimated that out of the… Continue reading | 1 Comment
In the United States we spend more, per capita on healthcare than any other country in the world. We spent $7,421 per capita as compared to about $3,500 in countries with universal
national healthcare systems such as France and Germany. We don't receive better care in the US than the French or Germans; we just pay a lot more for it. In fact, according to the latest data, we spent $2.2 trillion in 2007 on
healthcare, or 16.2% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Even more worrisome is that expenditures continue to rise at an alarming rate of 6% annually.
Here's a radical idea: Why don't we fix the current system before the administration throws another
$634 billion federal dollars into this sinkhole? We appear to be focused…
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Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
Even though a women's menstrual cycle will continue to be regular in her 30's and 40's, the quality of the eggs ovulated each month will be poorer than those of her 20's. Though not as abrupt or noticeable as menopause in women, changes in fertility do occur in men as they age. The causes of
infertility are multiple:
Female factors
- Ovulatory dysfunction
- Tubal/uterine/peritoneal factor
- Endometriosis
- Cervical factor
- Immunological problems, chromosomal abnormalities, cancer chemotherapy, and serious illnesses
- One should distinguish infertility and fecundity problem (the ability to produce a live offspring after pregnancy occurs) when immunological problems are involved
Male factors
- Abnormal semen: decreased sperm counts, failure of sperm maturation
The American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) defines
infertility as the failure to achieve a successful pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected intercourse. Earlier evaluation and treatment may be justified based on medical history and physical findings and is warranted after 6 months for women over age 35 years. In the United States one in six couples are
infertile. In large urban areas where women often delay childbearing for sake of their career, the proportion can be as high as one in five. This high incidence is confirmed by the oft-quoted statistic that in the United States over 3 million women a year visit a physician because of difficulty in conceiving. To put things in perspective however,
male factor infertility is the sole cause…
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More than 60% of adult Americans are
overweight and a staggering 33.3% of adult men and 35.3% of women are
obese. Even more disturbing 12.4% of
children 2-5 years, 17% % of those aged 6-11, and 17.4% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years are obese. The Center for Disease Control
(CDC) defines overweight in adults as a Body Mass Index (
BMI) between 25 and 29.9 and obesity as a BMI 30 or higher. BMI is calculated dividing a persons weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared. To make the calculation simple the Department of Health and Human Services and others provide a simple
calculator based on height in feet and inches and weight in pounds on their websites. For
children
The only thing missing from current
Health Care Reform proposals is a plan to actually provide, health care. Insurance schemes both public and private, electronic medical records and legal reforms may make health care more affordable and administratively efficient but they don't answer the real question; will Americans actually receive better health care, or in many cases any health care at all?
What should be obvious, seems lost in the political rhetoric, we don't have the physicians, nurses and other health care professionals to actually provide quality universal health care despite the fact that we spend more, per capita on health care than any other country in the world. In the U.S. we spend approximately $6,000 per capita as compared to about $3,500 countries with universal
national health care
